I love talking about luggage, particularly carry-on bags. A good carry-on should not only provide easy access to your in-flight essentials, but can help shape your travel experience into a positive one. Having a bag that’s easy to use and comfortable to travel with makes all the difference in my experience.

I generally rotate through three types of carry-on bags depending on my specific needs for any given trip. I like to use a tote when I’m not packing any of my bulkier equipment, a backpack when I’m bringing more but need my hands free if I’m traveling with my dog, or a rollaboard style bag when I’m traveling with a full load and don’t need both of my hands free. I have a new favorite wheeled carry-on that I’d like to spotlight.

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I’ve been using the Lipault Vertical Wheeled Brief as my rollaboard style carry-on of choice for the past year. It’s a versatile and well-made bag with great organizational built-in features, smooth rolling wheels, and roomy pockets. Let’s take a closer look.

The bag is petite in size, measuring just 14.5″ wide x 7.5″ deep x 18″ high, but can hold quite a bit without feeling stuffed. It’s super lightweight thanks to its nylon twill exterior, weighing in at just under 5 pounds when empty. The nylon twill fabric is soft to the touch, but extremely durable and water-resistant. After many trips mine still looks as good as new!

The reinforced bottom and sturdy handles give the bag even more structure in keeping with its sleek style. I like the shallow zip pocket on the back exterior of the bag, which is the perfect place to stow travel documents for quick and easy access. The Wheeled Brief is available in purple, black, and espresso from Zappos for $229 as well as aqua and navy from the Lipault website for the same price.

The telescoping handle is adjustable to suit a variety of heights and is easy to expand or collapse with the push of a button. I like that it has its own zip compartment on the top of the bag in case you want to stow it, which protects from damage in transit. The handle is grooved on the underside for cushioning making it comfortable to pull. You can also carry the bag by the handles, which fit snugly under the shoulder. The reinforced zippers work like a dream. All three major compartments of the bag include two zippers for accessibility. The largest two compartments are lockable and the bag comes with a matching lock.

The Wheeled Brief has three main compartments. The smallest pocket on the front exterior of the bag (2) comes with a few great built-in features, including a slip pocket sized to hold a phone, a key clip, and two pen and several credit card pockets. These built-ins do not take up too much room. There’s actually quite a bit of space to store other items in this lightly padded compartment, as well.

The smaller of the two larger compartments (1) is designed to house devices. The padded laptop sleeve can accommodate up to a 15″ laptop. My MacBook Pro easily fits in this pocket even with a hardshell case on it with room to spare. It’s well protected by the included padding, which is just the right amount without adding unnecessary bulk to the bag. There is also a slip pocket designed for a tablet that my regular size iPad with case fits perfectly inside of. Even when packed with both of these devices, this compartment has room for other items as well, such as magazines or books.

The largest compartment (3) is designed to hold clothing, but I generally just pack this bag with my in-flight essentials. I use the two elastic shoe pockets to corral bulkier items, such as the pouch containing my cords and chargers as well as my headphones and vlogging camera case. There’s a slip pocket on the other side of the compartment’s interior that is perfect to stow my knitting and journal pouches. The sides of this compartment unzip all the way to lie flat (4), providing great access for packing and unpacking. I can easily fit all of my in-flight essentials as well as my dSLR into this compartment.

I share a closer look at the Lipault Wheeled Vertical Brief and show how I typically pack it in this video if you’re interested:

I hope you enjoyed this look at the Lipault Vertical Wheeled Brief. I’d love to hear about your favorite carry-on if you care to share!
Happy & Safe Travels 🙂

* Post contains affiliate links. This is not a sponsored post. All opinions are genuinely my own. *

16 thoughts on “Carry-On Spotlight | Lipault Vertical Wheeled Brief”

Hey Jen,
I had purchased the Lipault Weekend Tote Bag (15″) for my trip to Italy this past May. It is smaller than your wheeled tote but it was perfect for the trip. It had similar pockets and was just what I needed for my essentials. It fit over the handle of my larger luggage so I didn’t have to lug it around. The other great thing was I bought it on 6pm.com for $50.

I have a similar one. It’s wheeled and fits under the seat. I got the purple with yellow interior, so easy to see inside instead of black bags. I used to have a bag I carried but my neck and shoulders ached after a long day of travel (we always have a couple of flights to get anywhere) I’m loving that this is wheeled but can still be at my feet.

Can I ask what backpack or hands-free option you use when traveling with your sweet puppy? I have two small children, both under the age of 3, so when traveling through an airport with them, hands-free is also important if I’m wheeling them around in a stroller and / or chasing the toddler around. I saw your camera backpack, but I was wondering what you might’ve used before that one? I don’t need all the camera accessory compartments and whatnot that that particular backpack offers.

The Lipault is a bit smaller and lighter. I prefer the Lipault because it is more compact and holds everything that I need. I started to feel as if the VB was too big for just my in-flight essentials in recent years.